Kamran, Saad guide Federal Areas to thumping win

KARACHI: Skipper Kamran Akmal hit 105 while Saad Nasim blasted a quick-fire unbeaten 78 to enable Federal Areas to overwhelm Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by 114 runs in their day-night opener of the Pakistan Cup National One-day Cricket Championship at Iqbal Stadium Faisalabad on Thursday.

The batting heroics from Kamran and Saad enabled Federal Areas to post 373-6 in the allotted 50 overs after opting to bat first on the wicket which had nothing for the bowlers. KP, in reply, were folded for 259 in 43.1 overs.

Earlier, Kamran Akmal won a vital toss and elected to bat first in the simmering heat. After losing Awais Zia (5) cheaply, both Kamran and Abid Ali (52) batted with perfection, sharing 152 for the second wicket association. Left-arm pacer Sadaf Hussain broke the partnership when he removed Abid off his first ball of his second spell, held by Mohammad Hafeez at cover. Abid smashed three fours and one six in his 57-ball innings.

Soon afterwards left-arm spinner Saud Shakeel got rid of Kamran who hit 13 fours and four sixes in his 20th List A century.International hard-hitting batsman Sohaib Maqsood (54) then used long handle, hitting seven fours and one six from 44 balls to inflate the total. However it was Saad Nasim who did a glorious job with the willow in the end, hitting six fours and five sixes from only 42 balls to take Federal Areas to a huge total.

Saad shared 92 for the sixth wicket partnership with Salman Ali Agha, who chipped in with 29-ball 36 which had three hits to the fence. Federal Areas scored 99 runs in the last ten overs. Fast bowler Sadaf Hussain got 3-67 in his quota of ten overs. Hassan Khan (1-54), Hammad Azam (1-59) and Saud Shakeel (1-47) were the other successful bowlers.

In response, KP received an early blow when left-arm pacer Waqas Maqsood removed test opener Shan Masood (5), trapped lbw.However at this stage Khurram Manzoor (60) and Mohammad Hafeez (76) batted with responsibility, adding 113 for the second wicket to consolidate the position. After losing Hafeez, who hit seven fours and four sixes from 58 balls, Umar Akmal (33) dominated a 49-run partnership for the third wicket with Khurram. Umar fell prey in the 28th over to spinner Raza Hasan after smacking one six and one four from 25 balls.

In the next over Khurram got run out which reduced KP to 179-4 in the 29th over.The test opener smashed four fours in his patience 78-ball innings.

International allrounder Hammad Azam (37) and stumper Mohammad Hasan (22) then tried to score some quick runs but after their departure KP lost their tail within no time.Waqas Maqsood was the pick of the bowlers with 3-40 in eight overs.

Usman Khan Shinwari, Raza Hasan, Hussain Talat and Agha Salman got one wicket each.Zameer Hiader and Qaiser Waheed supervised the match while Rashid Riaz served as television umpire. Mohammad Sajid acted as reserve umpire and Aziz-ur-Rehman was the match referee.On Friday (today), Sindh will take on Balochistan. The match starts at 2:30pm.